Polstuart is a project I have been working on since November 2016. It is very much inspired by the ruins of Poltalloch House in Argyll, Scotland. I've loved it ever since I laid eyes on its forlorn and overgrown shell as a child, and have often fantasized about saving and restoring it. That fantasy has been partially realised through this creation. Poltalloch is a Victorian era Jacobethan style home, but I really wanted to create something a little more authentic, so I drew inspiration from Haddon Hall when adding the finishing touches, I was even fortunate enough to visit Haddon this year which spurred me on to finish it. So Polstuart is the lovechild of a Victorian Wannabe and one of the most magical Medieval and Tudor houses in the world.

The project has had a rather sporadic evolution as I tried to squeeze it all onto a 40 by 40 lot, but when I realised this wasn't going to work I then spawned a larger version on a larger lot. This then meant I was building two houses at once, doing one part on one version and then replicating it on the other, then when the two were nearly finished I then decided to do an even bigger version which involved moving the larger version onto an even larger lot and letting my heart run wild with the gardens. So now I'm able to offer the house in three different sizes, all very similar but each having its own character and quirks. The large and medium versions are practically identical internally, but the large version has the addition of a more substantial garden. Meanwhile their little sister offers the same level of detail and character, but in a more compact form with streamlined furnishing making it slightly more economic and a bit more manageable on a weaker computer.
I've never built something so big before and wouldn't normally consider playing anything larger than a 40 by 40 lot, which is why I kept all three versions so that you can choose something to fit your own gaming habits.

Lady Mary Beckley was born the youngest surviving child of a well-to-do farmer high in the peaks of Derbyshire. The family had migrated south from Scotland to flee a Clan feud many years previously. They christened their new home Polstuart, a modest fortified manor house with moat and tower house. By the age of 13 Mary had outlived her older siblings and been married off to a local nobleman 37 years her senior. Still being a child the marriage was fraught with fear from her intimidating and domineering spouse. Fortunately the marriage only lasted a week before she had outlived him too. Being a woman meant that she couldnâ€™t inherit her husbandâ€™s wealth and so it passed to her father whom she returned to live with at Polstuart. With his new found wealth Maryâ€™s father sought to overhaul the manor and bring it into the 16th century. He started by toppling some of the outer walls into the moat to make it less of a castle and more of a modern dwelling. Although he didnâ€™t live to see much more than the site cleared, leaving behind just the tower and the attached stable block before meeting an untimely death.
His grand ambitions for his daughter were much more fortunate, prior to his death he married her off again at the age of 16 to a wealthy land owner with a title and French heritage. To Maryâ€™s new husband she bore two healthy daughters. In return, he modernised the remaining parts of her old house for her mother to live out the rest of her years in relative comfort. He then proceeded to meet an untimely death and Mary was forced into marrying his cousin.
Initially she was able to return to Polstuart and so she took to renovating the old manor with a dramatic extension which transformed it into an ornate Elizabethan mansion. To her third husband she bore a healthy son. But upon his birth she was then forced to move to France to reside with her husband in his ancestral home in Normandy and leave behind her daughters to be raised by her mother at Polstuart. Life in France was very cruel to Mary, she was an outsider and constantly at odds with her French in-laws. Their chÃ¢teau was far grander than anything she had ever known and was thoroughly modern with its painted and gilded panelling. She adored the light blue panelling in her boudoir and would spend hours in there admiring it whilst also avoiding the prying eyes and poisonous tongue of her mother-in-law. Their wealth seemed almost infinite as her husbandâ€™s influence at court grew, although his greed and power ending up being his downfall when he was murdered by a courtesan. This then plunged the family into turmoil as his younger brother sought the take the title and family fortune out from under his nephew who was now next in line. This placed Mary and her young son in a very sordid household, she feared that her son would be murdered and so she fled back to England with little more than her son, a handful of personal possessions and the panelling from her boudoir. Leaving her brother-in-law to inherit the estate take his brotherâ€™s place at court, under the watchful eye of his tyrannical mother.
Once back in England, she raced up through the countryside until she was safely within the loving embrace of her aged mother and daughters. With her family reunited she embarked on a final renovation of Polstuart to breathe a little French glamour into it. Her new Jacobean style extension engulfed the old tower house and stable block and added a long gallery and ballroom in which she housed her beloved boudoir panelling.
The house stayed in the family for many generations before passing out of it during the late 18th century. It then suffered a period of neglect and financial disarray which left it unloved but also unscathed by white paint.
Then in the late Victorian era the family returned and â€˜restoredâ€™ their ailing ancestral home. During this renovation the Great Hall was altered dramatically with the addition of a new Grand Staircase, relegating the original Elizabethan Grand Staircase to a Servantsâ€™ Staircase or Back Stairs. The gardens were also overhauled in the fashionable Arts and Crafts style, instating fashionable Elizabethan style Parterres wherever possible.

Creator Notes:
Each version has been play-tested and all of the fireplaces have been upgraded to 'Fireproof' along with the plumbing being upgraded to 'Unbreakable'
While I have had a lot of fun creating this lot, one thing that has fought me at every turn is the curse of the mysterious random floating ceiling tile. I think the evil has been defeated, but if it does rear its ugly head then do let me know and I'll see if I can rectify it.
When playing one of the larger lots you'll find you won't be able to set the Front Door because the game considers it to be an internal door, however this hasn't caused me any issues when playing as newspapers are delivered to the side door and sims will enter the front door and proceed to the side hall when returning home or moving in for the first time.
The internal pictures were all taken in the medium and large versions.
There was an issue with the original versions I uploaded and a piece of rogue CC deciding it was going to tag along for the ride. Thanks to the help of attuned I think I've managed to overcome this issue with the revised uploads.

I hope you will enjoy this creation, it has been labour of love and learning. If you have any issues, feel free to let me know, otherwise, enjoy!

1. Click the file listed on the Files tab to download the file to your computer.
2. Extract the zip, rar, or 7z file.
2. Select the .sims3pack file you got from extracting.
3. Cut and paste it into your Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Downloads folder. If you do not have this folder yet, it is recommended that you open the game and then close it again so that this folder will be automatically created. Then you can place the .sims3pack into your Downloads folder.
5. Load the game's Launcher, and click on the Downloads tab. Select the house icon, find the lot in the list, and tick the box next to it. Then press the Install button below the list.
6. Wait for the installer to load, and it will install the lot to the game. You will get a message letting you know when it's done.
7. Run the game, and find your lot in Edit Town, in the premade lots bin.

Extracting from RAR, ZIP, or 7z: You will need a special program for this. For Windows, we recommend 7-Zip and for Mac OSX, we recommend Keka. Both are free and safe to use.